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Progressive Politics NI

Newtownards - Education

Tuition fees should be abolished
There should be greater education in areas like LGBT rights, Mental Health, Money management and Sex Education.
There needs to be a greater awareness of neurodiverse conditions for both students & teaching staff
The cuts to the student nursing bursary should be reversed & extended to all health & social care students
There needs to be compulsory, comprehensive and standardised relationships and sexuality education (RSE) in schools
There needs to be an improvement in political education in schools, higher education & workplaces
'Activism' should be introduced as a compulsory school module
There should be greater funding for both SEN schools and SEN pupils in mainstream schools, as well as more training and access to resources for staff/practitioners to support SEN
There needs to be equal opportunities and access to higher education for all
There should be a reform of the RE curriculum to remove the Christian centric nature of the curriculum and provide more of a general education in world religions, philosophies and ethics to increase inclusivity as schools become more multicultural
Education classes/resources should be held by local community centres/schools to offer support and networks for new parents and families (e.g parenting classes, homework support classes, play groups) and more funding made available for programmes like Sure Start
Comments
  • On question: 'Activism' should be introduced as a compulsory school module - Teachers and teaching unions have been clear in their opposition to increased mandatory provision being added to the curriculum. We believe all students should have the opportunity to learn about and to participate in activism but that this is not necessarily appropriate to be taught in the school context. We would support a stand-alone programme of critical thinking skills and information literacy to complement and strengthen the ‘Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities Framework’ currently in place across all areas of the Northern Ireland curriculum.